Their Final First Kiss
by Kuroi Uma
Summary: How much can change in seventeen years? Can you pick up from where you left off? Will you be able to achieve closure and finally move on? Their rencounter had been long overdue. HeeroXRelena One-shot


**Their Final First Kiss**

It was a family neighborhood, big fancy houses aligned at each side of the street with their impeccably tended gardens and trees full of happily chirping birds, but despite the beautiful sunny day and the cheerful surroundings there was only one lonely man on the street and he certainly felt as out of place as he looked. He walked slowly, giving every house a careful look, though it was not visible, hidden in his pocket, he carried a slip of paper with an address on it.

The house he had been looking for was just like all other houses on that street, a stone path led to the front door where the man now stood, you could see he was hesitating though his face betrayed nothing of the turmoil going on inside his head. Finally, after straightening his back and clearing his throat, he rang the bell. He had obviously been expecting a servant for he practically froze when he saw her. She seemed even more shocked to see him standing there, her eyes widened and she stared at him for a long time before her shock had worn off enough for her to fully open the door.

"Heero…" she whispered almost automatically, as if she had done it a million times.

"May I come in?" he broke the silence, not knowing what else to say or rather unwilling to say all the things he had to.

She gapped for a moment, then looked down and over her shoulder while she thought. When she met his eyes, there was still a trace of doubt in her own, though she had obviously already made her decision. "Come in."

He walked past her, avoiding eye contact, and into the impeccably decorated living room. A sofa and a loveseat sat across from each other, a coffee table between them with a modern sculpture on it. The silence that surrounded them was thick and heavy. Heero took a seat, unasked, but the woman seemed relieved to have been saved the trouble of showering him in the usual social niceties. She now remembered how much he disregarded them.

"I never thought I'd see you again." it was her turn to break the silence as she took a seat across from him. She forced herself to meet his eyes and smile, however uncomfortably. Her hands rested tensely on her lap as she tried not to fidget.

"I know." a sad smile twisted one corner of his mouth briefly, and he averted his eyes.

At their side, resting against the wall, a bookshelf held not only books but also a vase with daisies and some other decorative objects as well as a few portraits. It was the pictures that caught his eye. He did not have to see them from up close to know their contents.

"Where have you been?" she tried to sound cheerful, to distract him, but her voice came out forced. Thankfully, he paid no mind to it.

He turned his head slowly, meeting her eyes again. "Everywhere."

She nodded, looking down at her hands, this time her voice had a tinge of bitterness. "I should've figured as much."

"Relena." her name on his lips seemed to startle her and she instantly raised her head, as if she had never heard it. "I needed to see you."

That confession surprised her and, for a moment, she was breath taken, but it was no more than a moment. She looked away, hastily, as if his words had hurt her. They surely seemed to have stung, like reopening an old wound.

"I think I need a cup of coffee." she stood up. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, please."

A counter was all that separated the living room from the kitchen. Relena made her way around the isle in the center and opened up a cabinet from which she drew a kettle. She filled it with tap water and placed it on the stove, over the bluish flames. Heero watched her from the counter he had dared not cross, there was pain and sadness in his eyes as if looking at her transported him to another time, another place.

"How did you find me?" she asked casually, though his gaze had obviously been bothering her.

"Quatre." was all he said, but it was enough for her.

"I thought so."

He realized then he had been staring at her and slowly walked back to the living room as if the few extra metres that now separated them were enough to erase the growing tension. The titles of the books on the shelves did not interest him, his eyes ran over them without a second thought, and stopped at the colorful portraits. There were three on that particular shelf, the first had a picture of a young Relena hugging a furry sheepdog, in the second picture Relena held a toddler in her arms, a beautiful blonde girl with bright brown eyes. The third and last picture showed Relena at her wedding.

"You had been gone for ten years…" she stood behind him. "I wanted to wait longer, I truly did, but I was so lonely and hopeless. You never said a word about coming back. In fact, you never said anything. You just left." her voice faltered as she tried to control her anguish.

"How old is she?" taken aback by the question, she did not answer immediately, and he thought she had not understood him. "Your daughter."

"Five. I've been married for seven years now…" Relena could not stand his blank, emotionless gaze when she was about to lose her composure, so she turned away to pick up her cup which stood beside his on the coffee table. "You were gone for seventeen years."

"I know." he did, he knew it was an awfully long time and he would not deny it. "I had not expected you to wait for me."

"So where were you?" she turned back to him, exasperated, and repeated the question she had more or less already asked.

"I…" his voice faltered, guilt tightening his throat. "I had things to figure out… To sort out."

"What kind of things?" Relena's eyes were still angry, and her voice accusing.

"Things about myself, about my…" he paused for a second, then said a word he was certainly less than used to. "Feelings."

She bit her lower lip, looking away as guilt tightened her throat as well, but she quickly forced herself to meet his gaze once more. "Have you reached any conclusion?"

"That I love you." he looked as serious as he sounded if not more, for there was a touch of tenderness in his voice as he said those words that many would have thought him incapable of. Even she.

Relena gasped as if in pain and, before she knew it, she was crying. "You know it's too late now, don't you?" she yelled at him. "Why did you have to come back?" her voice resonated, so she decided to stop talking and just cry.

Heero retrieved the cup from her viselike grip and placed it back on the coffee table behind her. He looked at her longingly, as if he wanted to somehow absorb all that he was seeing, imprint that image of her on his memory. Then, she watched - paralyzed - as he ran a hand down her face, wiping away her tears, and pulled her into his arms. He felt her tense, then relax, and breathed in the sweet scent of her skin. There was pain in his eyes as his arms tightened around her. That was supposed to be their first real hug, but also their last.

"I'm sorry." Relena pushed a hair strand behind her ear as they pulled away, she was clearly uncomfortable and a light blush spread over her pale cheeks. "I never lose my composure like that."

"Hn…" Heero nodded in agreement, he still held her at arm's length whether consciously or not. "I know."

She looked up at him, her lips parting slightly as if she were going to say something she was not sure she should say. Instead, she did something entirely unexpected. With both hands she pulled his head down and kissed him. It took him a couple seconds to react, but, when he did, he returned her kiss wholeheartedly, and they melted into one another like they had been waiting for more than seventeen years to do.

"I love you too." she whispered breathlessly, resting her forehead against his lips, her eyes still closed. "But I can't…" her eyes opened, waking her up from her dream, and she met his as serious as he had ever seen her. "I can't do this."

He took a step back, looking down, as if her words had wounded him, but when he raised his head there was a trace of a smile on his lips. "I expected no less from you."

Her surprise quickly gave way to a smile and, before she could give the idea a second thought, she asked him. "Would you stay for dinner?"

"What about…" he frowned, his eyes escaping to one of the pictures for a fraction of a second.

"He'll be spending the weekend at his mother's. I thought you knew."

"I knew he would not be home. I thought he would be working."

Relena shook her head. "So? Will you stay?"

Heero hesitated, but shook his head, and his expression softened. "I hope he makes you happy."

"He's a good man." she nodded, looking at her wedding picture.

"_Saru mo ki kara ochiru*_."

She watched puzzled, as he made a short bow and turned to leave. Even though his Asian origins had not been a secret to her, she had never heard him speak another language, especially not one she did not understand. Relena could only guess at what he meant.

"I shouldn't expect you to visit, should I?" she knew the answer, so she did not expect him to actually say anything. She ran to the door in time to watch him walk down the path to the side walk. "Heero!"

He stopped and turned around.

"Go and find happiness!" Relena shouted.

As he walked the no-longer-deserted streets, he saw children playing in the garden, neighbors chatting while watering the flowers and a mother and child walking their dog. He watched the sun set in the horizon and, suddenly, he no longer looked or felt as out of place as he once had. He was ready to go back home.

* * *

_*Even monkeys fall from trees._

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I have been feeling in a tired, sad, angry kind of mood lately and this is what came out of it. The Japanese phrase is to show that despite Heero accepting everything nicely, he still sees Relena's husband as competition and hasn't completely given up on her just yet. I tried a different style this time, a more observant narrator instead of a mind-reading one, let me know what you think. I'll hopefully be writing more before my vacation's over. Thanks for reading!


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